MTS worried disabled pass being abused

San Diego transit authorities want to tighten their monthly pass policies for the disabled, concerned that able-bodied bus and trolley riders are abusing the program.

Rob Schupp, a spokesman with the Metropolitan Transit System, said yesterday that the agency wants to make sure it sells the $18 passes only to those with documented disabilities — and that others pay the regular, $72-a-month price.

Under current policy, an unspecified number of commuters — including state prison parolees — have been allowed to buy the cheaper passes from the MTS without adequate documentation of a disability, Schupp said. Some have bought passes by showing a letter from a state rehabilitation facility, such as a parolee halfway house.

“An able-bodied person with a disability pass clearly is not paying their fair share,” Schupp said. “I don’t know where we got lax on this.”

William Stothers, with the Center for an Accessible Society in San Diego, worries that changes in the pass application process will hurt the disabled, some of whom already find obtaining a pass a trial.

“It seems to me they are opening a huge can of worms potentially,” he said.

The MTS board next month could review possible policy changes that would require disabled riders to provide at least one of four documents — a Medicare card, proof they receive Social Security Disability Insurance, a state Department of Motor Vehicles identification card for the disabled or documentation from a physician — as part of the pass application.

Schupp said an agency advisory panel, which includes the disabled, has so far not raised objections to the changes.

Stothers agreed that the MTS should root out any abuse of the program, but faulted the agency for not providing hard proof that there’s a serious problem.

Agency officials were unable to estimate the extent of the abuse. They pointed, however, to a recent survey showing that 82 percent of those with an MTS discount pass for seniors and the disabled are under 60, suggesting to officials that some of them may be able-bodied.

The agency sold about 25,000 of the discount passes in December. The passes are sold at the MTS transit store in downtown San Diego, at some Vons stores and check-cashing outlets and online attransit.511SD.com.

The MTS wants to tighten its pass application process starting in May, when the region’s new Compass Card transit pass is fully phased in on San Diego-area buses and trolleys.

For many years, those with disability passes have in some cases also been required to obtain a special identification card through the MTS. About 66,000 of the cards are currently issued to local seniors and the disabled.

Transit officials want to make it possible for the new transit pass to double as a monthly pass and an ID card for seniors and the disabled.

Money is also driving the clampdown on abuses in the pass program. Like other public agencies, the MTS has seen its state funding collapse in recent years. Tax revenue has also dropped, forcing fare increases and major cuts in services.

By eliminating any abuse of the discounted passes, more riders will probably end up buying a regular adult pass, officials said.